Freddie Fabbri of Shavertown, well-known throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania as Fast Freddie when delivering the traffic report on 98.5 KRZ, says he treats his body like a second-rate amusement park — where the oil is leaking from the Ferris wheel and the guys working the balloon games are on crack.
“There’s no way in hell I’m going to spend two and a half hours a day in a gym to seek perfection that really isn’t going to benefit anything else than my ego,” Fabbri said just moments before sitting down on a plastic chair and breaking it.
Admittedly affording himself “about four cheat-meals” a week, Fabbri has some extra meat on his bones. His body type — the dad bod — isn’t turning most people off, either. His physique is actually considered alluring by many.
“I love the dad bod,” said Brianna Conway of Nanticoke. “It’s very sexy. I don’t want a man who looks better than me. Like, no girl wants that.”
So what’s so attractive about a man with a few extra pounds?
We decided to do some investigating and find out what people throughout NEPA think about the sex appeal surrounding men with the body type of their dads — just in time for Father’s Day.
WHAT IS A DAD BOD — AND DO I HAVE ONE?
If you can eat an entire tray of pizza after drinking your face off on a Friday night, you might have a dad bod.
Don’t be offended. Girls think it’s sexy.
According to an essay written by Mackenzie Pearson, a student at South Carolina’s Clemson University, the dad bod represents the guy who goes to the gym occasionally, but also drinks heavily on the weekends and enjoys eating “eight slices of pizza” at a time.
“It’s not an overweight guy, but it isn’t one with washboard abs, either,” Pearson wrote in the essay, “Why Girls Love The Dad Bod.” The essay was published in March in her college newspaper, The Odyssey. Shortly after, the undergrad’s request for men to “strut that gut” for her pleasure — and the contentment of women everywhere — turned into a viral sensation that took over social media.
The dad bod became the most celebrated body type for men.
REDEFINING SEXY
Brian Murphy of Scranton says he feels the impression of the dad bod is blazing a trail for people to look beyond appearance when it comes to the definition of what’s considered sexy. The 22-year-old is no father, but embraces his dad bod wholeheartedly.
“At first I was insulted when someone told me I had a dad bod,” Murphy said. “Now I see it as a compliment because it speaks for who I am as a person instead of what I look like. It makes me attractive for my personality.”
Girls want to be with a guy who can have a good time drinking and still eat out — who’s also cuddly — while still taking care of their bodies for the most part, Murphy said.
“I drink beer and eat a lot of fast food on the weekends — a lot of McDonald’s,” he said. When it comes to exercising, Murphy says he “lifts for an hour a day about four to five times a week.” Similar to Fabbri, he doesn’t waste all of his spare time in the gym. He skips cardio.
Fabbri doesn’t let himself go entirely, though. He says he tries his best to stay healthy for his newborn daughter, Gretchen. “I feel I do as much as I can with my work schedule. Now, with being a father, a child takes up all your free time. But sometimes, instead of succumbing to wanting a McDonald’s Double Quarter Pounder, I might drive a little out of my way to eat Subway,” Fabbri said. “I try to do low-fat milk instead of whole milk. I try to go every other day with no sugar in my coffee.”
Small, attainable healthy choices is more realistic, Fabbri said.
“There are more guys out their with the average body compared to the gym body,” he said. Now that people understand that, with the widespread gratitude for the dad bod, Fabbri said it takes a lot of pressure off seeking perfection.
BRAWN VS. BEER BELLY
Kyle Gillette of Scranton is not impressed with the popularity of the dad bod. He has sculpted muscles and six-pack abs. He spends hours each day at the gym to achieve his idea of the perfect body.
“Why have a dad bod when you can look like a Greek god?” Gillette said.
Conway said she’s had sex with guys who have big muscles and guys with a little extra weight on them — and the sex was “way better” with guys who have a dad bod.
Conway said she felt “more safe” and “protected” when a man with a dad bod was on top of her.
“Ugh, there’s nothing to hold on to when you’re with a guy who is all muscles or really thin,” she said. “Men can’t be skinny. It just doesn’t work.”
AVERAGE IS SEXY
According to Murphy, being “super skinny” isn’t sexy today.
“Nobody wants a twig around. I know I want a little something I could hold on to,” he said.
That’s likely why Conway’s celebrity crush is Adam Sandler. “He has the perfect dad bod,” she said. “He represents the real man. Today you see more average looking people on television, so I think that helps people accept what real people really look like. I think that’s why the dad bod is so attractive to people.”
From a female perspective, Conway acknowledged the double-standard — that it’s acceptable for men to have a little extra weight and not women.
“It’s terrible, but women don’t look as good with extra weight on them. Men do,” Conway said.
Fabbri, on the other hand, said he believes women can pull off some extra weight.
“It all has to do with your self-confidence. I know women that would be considered large commercial compared to the average cover girl, but they have confidence, they love themselves, and if somebody’s not in to them, they’ll just move along and find somebody that will dig them for who they are; not who they could be,” Fabbri said.
